Best method for drying fibre paper?

Luminousoctaves · Jul 11, 2016

I suspect this topic has been discussed before, but I couldn't find a proper thread.
Question: What are your best/most efficient/easiest methods for drying fibre based photo paper?
Reveal your McGyver-in the darkroom-skills here and now.

Personally I have boiled it down to two methods that I use:

1. For personal prints / not so important stuff.
Dry prints face up a couple of hours until emulsion looks pretty dry = no visible drops etc.
Then place under book press for a couple of days.
The result is not 100% satisfactory but good enough.

2. For gallery prints / important stuff.
After water rince, mount on plexi/glass with acid free adhesive tape.
Emulsion side up.
Let dry for two days, then cut borders.
Result is mostly excellent.
I have had problems finding a plexi that will let the tape stick though... any recommendations?

darkroommike · Jul 11, 2016

I tried blotter books, slow, and the waxed paper separators leave marks
I have used, with success, the David Vestal method, needs lots of photo blotters, I got my blotters by taking apart my photo blotter books.
I then got a Midge-O blotter dryer that uses a sandwich of blotters and corrugated cardboard with forced air, very efficient. The dryer is 11x14, for larger prints I still use the Vestal method.
I seem to have inherited two drum dryers which I will try next.

Note that not all blotters are photo grade, you need "linen-faced photo blotters", used to be a Kodak thing, I get mine from blotter books that I take apart. Ordinary blotters will drop fibers all over your prints.

R.Gould · Jul 11, 2016

I hang my FB prints pegged back to back on a line in the darkroom, let them dry overnight then press them between 2 sheets of mounting board for a day or two,

David Brown · Jul 11, 2016

Luminousoctaves said:
I suspect this topic has been discussed before, ...

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

ChuckP · Jul 11, 2016

Don't people just dry them on fiberglass screens? I rinse in distilled water, squeegee them off and dry face down. I've never seen any screen pattern transfer to the prints but some people have. Flatten for a couple days under weight.

jeffreyg · Jul 11, 2016

Emulsion up on fiberglass screens until thoroughly dry and flatten or dry-mount later.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Bob Carnie · Jul 11, 2016

ChuckP said:
Don't people just dry them on fiberglass screens? I rinse in distilled water, squeegee them off and dry face down. I've never seen any screen pattern transfer to the prints but some people have. Flatten for a couple days under weight.

I dry emulsion down on screens in a humid room about 45% and will hot press them between two rag boards or mount to rag board depending upon size of print.

Paul Howell · Jul 11, 2016

I have a set of fiber glass drying screens, unless it is really dusty I dry outdoors, when it is 110 takes only a hour or so to dry dw prints. It is raining or dusty and I have only a few prints to dry hand in the dark room with wooden clothes pens on a line. If I am in a printing session I microwave test strips and work prints to gage the final tonal range.

pdeeh · Jul 11, 2016

David Brown said:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

...

Pioneer · Jul 11, 2016

Tried blotter paper, drying drums, screens. Finally I just quit worrying about it. Fiber wants to curl. Now I just rinse well, hang to dry, flatten later, then mount.

To be honest though, the only time I work with fiber very much any more is doing contact prints using Lodima or shooting Harman Direct Positive paper. The rest of the time I just use Ilford RC papers.

gone · Jul 11, 2016

All I print on is fiber, so this is something I've tried all sorts of ideas on. What finally worked best, for me that is, is to dry the paper as much as possible w/ a squeegee and blotter, then tape it to a flat board w/ waterproof tape, and stand it up to let excess moisture get out by gravity. After a few days of sitting in the Florida room in 100+ heat I remove the tape and it's pretty flat.

Doremus Scudder · Jul 11, 2016

My prints are also all made on fiber-base paper. I squeegee with a new, proper-sized windshield wiper and dry the prints face-up on fiberglass screens (which have only ever seen thoroughly washed prints; a partially fixed print for evaluation gets dried elsewhere). I am one of those who have got screen markings when drying face-down, so never do that anymore.

The prints curl; slower drying = less curl. They then get flattened under weight, but I don't worry too much about flatness since I dry-mount all my work to cotton rag board.

Best,

Doremus

Luminousoctaves · Jul 11, 2016

I'm impressed by how many methods – and variations of these methods – there are.
Also, thanks for the link to the older thread: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Here's a summary of some of the posts:

- Squeegeed print, face down, on clean and polished ferrotype surface.
»The print should be given a final rinse in a rich, sudsy Foto-flo bath...
Don't drain the print before laying it on the plate... no "dry" areas on the print... "slop" it onto the plate.
Squeegee the print only after it's in full contact with the plate.
Let the print "pop" off, don't try to coax it off too soon.«

- Squeegeed print, face up on mesh drying screen

- Hang two prints on a line, back to back, connected with 4 clips.

Air dry + blotter sheets

- Dry mount press squeeged prints:
»I use sheets of 2-ply matte board above and below the print. The press is on its lowest setting. Each print gets about 20 seconds in the press then out. I repeat this a few times. If the matte board seems damp I switch it for a fresh set. Always seem to have some extra pieces lying about.«
»After they are dry I put them in a hot press and then pull it from the the press and let it cool under some books. The cooling part is important, because if the print is allowed to cool without being held flat, it will have a tendency to get back a little of its curl. By doing this they come out as flat as can be.«

- Use an ordinary clothes iron
» I place the print face down between 2 pieces of 3 ply matt paper. The iron is set as high as it can, without steam, and then just move it up & down, left & right again, again and again until it's flat. Maybe 5 - 10 minutes. I then lay a large heavy book over the matt paper and let it cool down. I only use the matt paper for drying... nothing else. On the back sides of the matt paper I wrote down "backside only" so I don't have dirt or dust on the side that touches the fiber paper, I also store the matt paper in a bag so I don't try to use it except for flatting my print.«

- Prints face down on clean sheet of glass, another piece of glass on top + use books as weight
»It will eventually make the prints flat as a pancake but it might take a couple of days.«

- Wet mount on glass to dry
»After washing, put the print face up on a plate of glass and fix the border with an adhesive tape, the whole perimeter, about 5mm on the print should be sufficient. It must be the old fashioned brown paper tape which is usually licked to get wet (or passed over a wet sponge, but do not wet it too much). Let the whole thing dry until the next day (don't hurry too much) and then cut the print with the stuck tape from the glass and then cut off the border strip with the tape. Especially with "F" papers the surface will get a very nice smooth look and will be perfectly flat.
The forces which try to contract the print when drying may be quite big with large prints, that's why the glass should be thick enough (5mm for 30 x40 cm will do). «

- ”Mortensen's method:”
Grasp the face-up damp print and pull it down over the edge of a table.

Hang back to back + wooden borders

Jim Jones · Jul 11, 2016

Decades ago I dried FB prints by putting them to bed (really!) between two clean sheets with a blanket on top to provide weight. When dry I stored them alternately face up and face down in a tightly packed paper box. Over time this completed the flattening process.

JPJackson · Jul 12, 2016

Bob Carnie said:
I dry emulsion down on screens in a humid room about 45% and will hot press them between two rag boards or mount to rag board depending upon size of print.

+1

BobMarvin11225 · Jul 13, 2016

I'm lucky enough to have found a number of Kodak blotter rolls on eBay. My smaller ones, that take up to 11 X 14 prints, were all used but in good enough shape that I've had no problems with prints staining due to contamination. I also got 6 NOS ones that take up to 20 X 24 prints. I've only printed that size once (in a friends's darkroom) but I do make a lot of 16 X 20s. IMO nothing else works as well as these blotter rolls. The prints come out with a strong reverse curve, but are pretty flat after being pressed for a short in my cold dry mount press. AFAIK nothing similar to Kodak blotter rolls is being made now–pity!

Slixtiesix · Jul 13, 2016

I give a few drops of Tetenal Mirasol to the water before pulling out the prints for drying. It helps to get rid of the water.

hacked - sepiareverb · Jul 13, 2016

Keeping wet time to a minimum helps with print flatness. I dry face up on fiberglass screens, stacked. My screens are aluminum frame from the local window shop, so about a 1/4" gap. Work prints are pl3nty flat enough, for finals I press them in a dry-mount press and cool the under plate glass, also from the local window shop.

johnnywalker · Jul 14, 2016

Luminousoctaves said:
I suspect this topic has been discussed before, but I couldn't find a proper thread.
Question: What are your best/most efficient/easiest methods for drying fibre based photo paper?
Reveal your McGyver-in the darkroom-skills here and now.

Personally I have boiled it down to two methods that I use:

1. For personal prints / not so important stuff.
Dry prints face up a couple of hours until emulsion looks pretty dry = no visible drops etc.
Then place under book press for a couple of days.
The result is not 100% satisfactory but good enough.

2. For gallery prints / important stuff.
After water rince, mount on plexi/glass with acid free adhesive tape.
Emulsion side up.
Let dry for two days, then cut borders.
Result is mostly excellent.
I have had problems finding a plexi that will let the tape stick though... any recommendations?

The only system I use for fibre paper is your Number 2, but I've only used glass. As you say, with excellent results. For the not-so-important stuff I use RC paper.

RalphLambrecht · Jul 14, 2016

I use the following method with great success:
1.air dry overnight with film weights clipped to bottom edge
2.flatten in dry-mount press for 1 minute
3.cool under a thick sheet of glass for 5 minutes
done and perfectly flat.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jul 14, 2016

I dry them on fiberglass screens face up. I prefer to dry them in a slightly humid environment. If the prints dry too fast, they curl.

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2016

I use an Arky Drum Dryer.

Ronald Moravec · Jul 14, 2016

BobMarvin11225 said:
I'm lucky enough to have found a number of Kodak blotter rolls on eBay. My smaller ones, that take up to 11 X 14 prints, were all used but in good enough shape that I've had no problems with prints staining due to contamination. I also got 6 NOS ones that take up to 20 X 24 prints. I've only printed that size once (in a friends's darkroom) but I do make a lot of 16 X 20s. IMO nothing else works as well as these blotter rolls. The prints come out with a strong reverse curve, but are pretty flat after being pressed for a short in my cold dry mount press. AFAIK nothing similar to Kodak blotter rolls is being made now–pity!

Yes. Just ry to find some. Blotter BOOKS do not work. Only rolls

Blotter stack with corrugated boards i.e. Salthill dryer ( best in the world ) or my garage sale Burke & James blotter stack. 2 nd or third best.

Arkay large diameter drum dryer, around 2 or 3 feet diameter, belt fed continuous. Small ones do not work. There was one in my college darkroom early 1960`s. Still have those and they are flat as a pancake.

Tape to flat surface, I used a basswood drawing board. Slow but effective.

Tried every else suggested here to no avail.

Hilo · Jul 15, 2016

I do as I was taught when working for a professional b/w printer 35 years ago:

- just hang 'm on lines with plastic pecks. I don't put on a heater near them as it makes the paper curl more and may give more gloss . . .

- I press them flat with either a Büscher 20X24 drymounting press, or a Seal 210M (for the smaller sizes) - I prefer the tension of the press to be not too strong, so I can leave the prints inside it 2 to 5 minutes. It means I can do other things as well while pressing.

- After pressing I put the prints between acid free blotters and let them there for a night, or a day

- finally, I trim each print 5mm on each of it's four sides. That takes out the tension of the paper, which is a big reason for curling . . .

AgX · Jul 15, 2016

How comes that hot-ferrotyping has only be mentioned once in this thread so far?

Best method for drying fibre paper?

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